Ratings momentum building for ‘GMA’

ABC show topping 'Today' in Guthrie's debut week

The hiring of Savannah Guthrie as co-host has not stopped the ratings bleeding at NBC’s “Today,” which is falling well behind ABC’s “Good Morning America” this week.

The Alphabet ayem show won the first three days of the current week, according to Nielsen prelims, with Wednesday’s margin of more than 580,000 viewers the biggest yet (roughly 4.4 million to 3.8 million). And for the week through Wednesday, “GMA” was comfortably ahead (4.38 million to 4.02 million).

“GMA” is also leading the week in the key news demo of adults 25-54 (albeit by a slim 38,000-viewer margin), pulling ahead in a category that “Today” has consistently won — even during the ABC show’s recent surge.

In final national estimates from Nielsen for last week (July 2-6), “GMA” won by its largest total-viewer margin over “Today” in 17 years (4.46 million vs. 4.22 million), and has now been the most popular morning news program for six of the past 13 weeks.

The NBC show still prevailed last week in adults 25-54, winning by an average of 24,000 viewers.

Guthrie, a lawyer who has been hosting the third hour of “Today,” officially replaced Ann Curry as Matt Lauer’s co-host on Monday. Curry exited the previous Friday amid a wave of support from fans.